Equivalence theory
In criminal law, the equivalence theory is a theory of the causality of an act in relation to the success of the act. Causality is a criterion for the fulfillment of the objective fact and thus for the criminality of an act.
According to the equivalence theory, causality is judged according to the conditio-sine-qua-non formula : Every condition is causal that cannot be ignored without the success in its concrete form being lost. The name of this teaching stems from the fact that, according to this definition, every necessary condition, no matter how distant, is regarded as causal for an actual success and therefore all these conditions are equivalent , that is, have “equal weight”.
Examples
Causal in the sense of the equivalence theory is for example:
- the shot at a person for his death (if one was hit),
- shaking the tree for the apples falling,
- pressing the light switch to turn on the lamp,
but also:
- the birth of a child who will one day kill a person for the death of that person,
- the birth of the mother of this child for the death of man.
Causality in the sense of the equivalence theory is only an indicator for the fulfillment of an offense , but not sufficient as a criterion for criminal liability. Not all of the conditions identified as the (co-) cause of a success according to the equivalence theory should lead to the culprit being punishable. Therefore, the objective attributability of a specific success is also checked as a restrictive criterion.
See also
literature
- Heinz Koriath : causality, condition theory and psychological causality. (At the same time: University of Göttingen, dissertation 1986). Göttingen, Schwartz, 1988. ISBN 3-509-01452-9 .
- Henning Leupold: The act of pure success crimes and the factual model of the "actio libera in causa" in the light of constitutional barriers. Duncker & Humblot GmbH, Berlin 2005. ISBN 9783428519149 .
